The present invention relates to a method for transporting passengers on a travelator comprising successive conveyors, including: an acceleration section, in which the speed of transport of passengers is accelerated via step-wise increasing successive even speeds from a substantially slow initial speed to a heightened transport speed; a constant-speed section, in which passengers are transported at a constant speed; and a deceleration section, in which the speed of transport of passengers is decelerated via step-wise decreasing successive even speeds to a substantially slow final speed. In such a method, the transport speed is changed during the acceleration and/or deceleration section in a stepwise manner so that the average acceleration experienced by the passengers is constant substantially throughout the entire acceleration/deceleration section.
Furthermore, the invention concerns a travelator for passenger transport, comprising: a number of successive conveyors arranged to form an acceleration section, which contains successive conveyors having even speeds stepwise increasing in the transport direction for accelerating the passenger transport speed from a substantially slow initial speed to a heightened transport speed; a constant-speed section containing a conveyor/conveyors for transporting the passengers at a constant speed; and a deceleration section containing successive conveyors having even speeds stepwise decreasing in the transport direction for decelerating the passenger transport speed from the constant transport speed to a decelerated final speed. In such a travelator the speeds of the conveyors in the acceleration section and/or deceleration section have been adapted so that the average acceleration experienced by the passengers over the entire length of the acceleration/deceleration section is constant.
Japanese patent document JP 2003-20281A, discloses a travelator for passenger transport. The travelator comprises a number of successive conveyors so arranged that they form an acceleration section, a constant-speed section and a deceleration section. The acceleration section consists of a number of successive belt conveyors which move at even speeds stepwise increasing in the transport direction to accelerate the speed of transport of the passenger from a substantially slow initial speed to a higher transport speed. The constant-speed section comprises a conveyor/conveyors for transporting passengers at a constant transport speed. The deceleration section is implemented in a manner corresponding to the acceleration section but in a functionally reverse order by arranging successive conveyors moving at even speeds stepwise decreasing in the transport direction for slowing down the speed of transport of passengers from the constant transport speed to a slower final speed.
Travelators are typically used at airports, where travelators are provided between terminals and parking areas and between different terminals, at subway and railway stations and in department stores. In these applications, the transport distances are typically a few hundred meters. Transport speed is typically about 0.6 m/s and maximum speed is about 0.8 m/s. The speed is restricted by the hazard associated with the act of stepping onto or off a moving conveyor. With these low speeds it is not reasonable to make very long travelators (>200 m) because the travel time becomes inconveniently long. Traveling from end to end of a 500 m long travelator at a speed of 0.8 m/s takes 10 minutes. However, there are situations (e.g. between terminals at airports) where it is necessary to travel through distances of 200 to 1000 m or even more, where a travelator would be an advantageous solution if it had sufficient speed. At present, these needs are usually fulfilled by using bus or subway lines or by walking.
Ideas regarding a high-speed travelator have been proposed that could be used in urban centers as a form of transport competing with subway transport, but so far have not been implemented in practice anywhere. This type of travelator would be longer than earlier types, with a possible total transport distance on the order of up to about 2000 m. In the case of travelators of this length, it is also necessary to use a relatively high constant transport speed, e.g. on the order of 5 m/s. An appropriate initial/final speed corresponds roughly to the typical human walking speed.
Accelerating the travelator from a low initial speed to a high constant transport speed requires a relatively long acceleration section, and decelerating from that speed correspondingly requires a long deceleration section. If the acceleration takes place at even intervals from one constant speed step to another over the entire length of the acceleration and deceleration section e.g. in the manner described in JP 2003-20281A, this involves a problem regarding passenger comfort and human adaptability to the stepwise changing speed. In practice, the passenger moves forward on the travelator while standing on his/her feet. The person's body and feet form a flexible system which wobbles back and forth during the stepwise speed changes. When the passenger is subjected to such wobbling in a temporally continuously accelerating/decelerating tempo, which is what happens in the case of the prior-art construction of the acceleration/deceleration section of a travelator, passenger comfort suffers because the passenger is not allowed enough time to adapt to the speed changes. The passenger may even sway out of balance, which leads to hazardous situations.
Due to the above-mentioned problems, so far prior-art solutions have not aimed at reaching a very high traveling speed.
European Patent document EP 0 803 464 owned by CNIM (Constructions Industrielles de la Mediterranee—CNIM, France) discloses a travelator which has acceleration/deceleration sections implemented using adjacent rotating shafts provided with interleaved discs and a rubber belt forming a constant-speed section. Disposed between the acceleration section and the constant-speed section is a fixed plate covered with rotating balls. A high-speed travelator by CNN, has been installed at Montpamasse station in Paris. The length of the travelator is 185 m. The initial speed is 0.75 m/s to 0.8 m/s. In the constant-speed section the transport speed is 2.5 to 3 m/s. The acceleration and deceleration sections have a length of only a few meters and the maximum acceleration/deceleration within them is about 0.9 m/s2.
The use of this travelator involves risks and many passengers have stumbled and fallen on the travelator. Due to the short acceleration/deceleration section, the large change in acceleration and deceleration is unpleasant to people. Moreover, women's stiletto shoes are not compatible with the rotating shafts. In addition, the fixed plate between the acceleration/deceleration section and the constant-speed section is dangerous because one may easily trip over it.
European Patent document EP 1 253 101 owned by Thyssen discloses a high-speed travelator based on telescopic pallets, which is reported to be able to move at a speed of 2.0 m/s. The technical solution used here is probably safer than the travelator according to EP 0 803 464, but it is also very complicated as it has several parts sliding one over the other.
Both of the above travelator solutions have a relatively high acceleration/deceleration in the acceleration/deceleration section and a low maximum speed in the constant-speed section.